Looking to Develop Mobile Primary Diagnostic System
The Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) announced on Sept. 23 that its research team led by biomedical engineering professor Kang Joo-hun developed a micro fluid chip for rapid detection of viral and bacterial infections.
According to the team, the thumb-size chip has a tube as thin as hair and the leukocyte in infected blood adheres to the wall of the fluid tube when the blood is put into the chip. The number of those adhering leukocytes is significantly larger in an infected person than in a healthy person and, as such, infection can be easily detected even with a low-power optical microscope by tracing an infected white blood cell.
With this chip, even pathogenic infection that occurred an hour ago can be detected, in just 10 minutes and even before symptoms such as fever develop, although it is not COVID-19-specific yet. “The chip can be used ahead of PCR testing and blood culture and the optical microscope required for the diagnosis is smartphone-compatible in terms of magnifying power,” the professor explained, adding, “Our ultimate goal is an inexpensive and mobile primary diagnostic system capable of detecting infection within five to 10 minutes.”
Details of the research were posted on Aug. 29 on the online edition of the Biosensors and Bioelectronics journal, which will be published soon.